


Just a Little Bit of Wanderlust

by Bread_Bird



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Awkward Dates, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, They're trying y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29927550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bread_Bird/pseuds/Bread_Bird
Summary: For an adventurer and an anthropologist, being back in their home city often ended up being quite boring. They would find things to entertain themselves with, sure, and they could never really get bored of one another, but it certainly wasn’t hours of unlimited study or the rush of venturing into a new beyond. Date nights were frequent, and they would go out and do things quite often, but the predictability was starting to work its way under Rantaro’s skin.Rantaro tries to find a way to quell his adventuring spirit when he and Korekiyo are home to varying results.
Relationships: Amami Rantaro/Shinguji Korekiyo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Just a Little Bit of Wanderlust

For an adventurer and an anthropologist, being back in their home city often ended up being quite boring. They would find things to entertain themselves with, sure, and they could never really get bored of one another, but it certainly wasn’t hours of unlimited study or the rush of venturing into a new beyond. Date nights were frequent, and they would go out and do things quite often, but the predictability was starting to work its way under Rantaro’s skin. Everything was so… domestic, and cuddly, which he loved, but geez, sometimes he found himself sitting across the dinner table from his partner, talking about paint colors for their bathroom, and he’d pause, and he’d think about how great of a world there was beyond the difference between off-white and eggshell. 

He didn’t care. He couldn’t bring himself to care too terribly much, especially when he was assuming that Korekiyo was feeling the same way that he did. He knew that his partner preferred constant stimulation over consistency, and he knew the delight they shared in doing or learning something new together. He loved Korekiyo, and no amount of adventuring in the world would change that. However, by no means did that stop him from trying to bring a little bit of mild excitement to their day to day life.

Rantaro came home from shopping that day- it was his day, after all- with several items that had not been on the list that they kept on the fridge. He had worked it out in the car, albeit sprawled a little bit awkwardly in the backseat; he had a rolled up poster board tucked under one of his arms, the rest of the bags dangling precariously off of the other. Korekiyo, who was sitting at the table, raised an eyebrow as he came in. “May I ask?”

“You may, but at least let me get the ice cream in the freezer first.” He shooed Korekiyo away when the anthropologist tried to help him with the groceries, earning an annoyed huff. Rantaro paused midway through putting some of the food away to kiss him on the cheek, which didn’t make him look any less indignant, but he did sit down again. Pleased enough with that result, Rantaro finished putting everything away, save for a pack of standard dice, which he set on the table with the poster.

Whenever he unrolled it, Korekiyo looked over it curiously. Rantaro could understand initially seeing it as just a mess of names and color; he wasn’t exactly an artist. Regardless, he stood there, proud of himself with his hands on his hips until Korekiyo looked up at him again. “Care to explain, darling?”

“I absolutely do,” Rantaro hurriedly sat down across from him, setting the dice right on top of the poster. “We’ve got favorite date spots, obviously, but I had an idea for that. I put down a bunch of things we haven’t done, along with places we have, and I was thinking we could roll the dice and see where we end up. The ones on the outer squares in red are places that are, at most, a 30 minute drive, and the inner ones are a 30 minute walk at most. The distance gets farther as you go out, and I literally just put everything down. We could end up anywhere.” He looked back up at Korekiyo, who was smiling amusedly behind his mask. “So… date night tonight, maybe?”

“That sounds wonderful,” he reached for the dice, carefully opening the package. “May I ask your motivations for setting this up?”

“Ah, yeah.” Rantaro rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, breaking eye contact with Korekiyo in favor of looking up at the ceiling. “Just a little bit of wanderlust, I guess. I miss adventuring, you know?”

“We just returned from a month across Europe, Rantaro,” Korekiyo chuckled softly, offering half of the dice to Rantaro. He took them, rolling them over each other in his hand. “We’ve only been home for five days.”

“Well, yeah, but there’s still so much world to see, things to do, people to find and help… It’s all out there, and we’re home. Think about it, we could be in a tent in the mountains of South America right now, living off what we have in our packs and kissing under the stars…”

“You’re a special kind of romantic, aren’t you, my dear?” Korekiyo sighed, reaching forward and putting his hand on Rantaro’s cheek. The adventurer looked back down at him, and he cracked a smile.

“You say that like I didn’t just describe the most romantic thing ever,” he let the weight of his head rest against Korekiyo’s hand, his cheek rubbing against the soft fabric of his gloves. “Do I get to treat you tonight or not?”

“And you ask that like whatever funds we have aren’t essentially pooled by this point anyway. However, yes, I would love to go on a date tonight. I have time to prepare myself, yes?”

“Of course. Whatever makes you feel confident. I’ll probably get myself dressed too… should we see where we’re going first, though?”

“Something tells me that you’re just excited to use your new toy,” Korekiyo rolled the dice in his free hand, and Rantaro just nodded in agreement. “Fine. How does this work?”

“Uh… Honestly, the numbers on the dice don’t mean anything. We just roll them onto the map, and wherever they land are our options. Then we roll again, and the first one to get another die on it wins. Sounds good?”

“I’m sure we could find a more complex and precise way to handle this, however, if that’s what you would like, I will not go against the word of the creator. Would you like to count down?”

“Absolutely, I would. Alright, now, three, two… one!” they both rolled their dice at the same time, albeit Korekiyo did so with much more grace than Rantaro did. Regardless, they all landed on a square, and Rantaro took a quick note of them before they did it again. The outcome ended up being a restaurant neither of them had heard of before, about 15 miles away from home. “Well, looks like that’s dinner tonight!”

“Perfect. I’ll take our bathroom, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Yes, it is, go get all pretty slash handsome, and I’ll hype you up when you get out,” when Korekiyo passed, Rantaro stopped him briefly to give him a kiss on the cheek. The anthropologist grinned, rolling his eyes playfully and heading off to get ready. The second Korekiyo had his clothes from their room, Rantaro slipped inside and started to get himself ready.

It wasn’t until he was digging through his closet that he realized he didn’t know jack shit about this restaurant. In a way, that was part of the adventure; you didn’t know what circumstances you would be facing, and therefore, you had to be prepared in whatever ways you could and hope for the best. However, adventure didn’t potentially have a dress code, and it was a lot easier to shove a lighter in your backpack than it was to change in your car if a restaurant was or was not fancy. What he had learned in high school, though, was when in doubt, go with whatever made you look like your dad could sue. That being said, he settled on a dark green button up (Korekiyo’s) and rolled the sleeves up, tucking them into a pair of black jeans (his own). All the bracelets and the rings went on as normal, and he got a brush through his hair before heading back out into the living room.

Korekiyo took longer than him to get ready, he usually did, what with the strict order he had set in place for himself, and he was out of the bathroom in the amount of time it took for Rantaro to put everything away and find the car keys again (in the pocket of his other pants). He was wearing a sweater and a skirt that went down to about his ankles, as well as a mask with various flowers painted on it. Rantaro lit up when he noticed it, having made that one himself. “Oh, you look amazing!” 

“And you as well, Rantaro,” he replied, but Rantaro ignored him in favor of walking up to him and taking one of the necklaces off of his own neck.

“I swear,” he said, undoing the clasp and removing the chain, “I’ve got to be, like, the luckiest guy ever. Not only are you smart and willing to put up with all my shit, you’re just straight up gorgeous. The only downfall is I’ll have to beat other guys away from you with a stick or something,” he put the necklace around Korekiyo’s neck instead. His partner was blushing now, sighing once Rantaro pulled his hands away and kissed him on the forehead.

“Ever the romantic,” he took his hand the second it was at his side again. “May we leave now? I fear our evening plans may change if you keep talking like that.”

Rantaro didn’t have to be asked twice, starting right out the door and to their car. “You know I wouldn’t mind, but we do have to eat at some point.”

“I never said it was the most ideal course of action, just the reality of the situation. Besides, I think the traditional precedent is that you take me out to dinner before you bed me.”

“Well, yeah, but does that apply if it’s our shared bed?” That earned a chuckle from his partner as they got in the car, and Rantaro couldn’t help but smile right along with him. Gods, he would do anything for that laugh. 

The conversation in the car was idle, nothing too terribly out of the ordinary for them. They had figured out a long time ago that they could just talk for hours with no problem, or they could just fall to silence and it would be all the same. It was raining, not terribly hard, but Rantaro offhandedly mentioned something about watching raindrops roll down car windows as a kid, and that had Korekiyo go into an entire speech about how shared childhood experiences could connect a culture, and that conversation had them talking all the way until they got to the restaurant. From the outside, Rantaro could see neon lights pulsing through the windows, and he could hear loud music playing. He frowned slightly, cocking his head to the side. “Huh!”

“Well, it sure is… colorful.” Korekiyo murmured from his side. 

“We can go somewhere else if you don’t wanna eat here, I won’t mind.”

“No. This is part of the adventure, is it not?” Korekiyo got out of the car, and Rantaro quickly got out and fell to his side as they walked in. “I’m sure it’s quite lovely, Rantaro, you have no need to worry.”

“Well, yeah, but it’s not like we’re in the middle of a jungle and have no way of dropping out. We’re standing outside of a big, flashy building that doesn’t look like your type of place in the slightest.” This time, Korekiyo didn’t respond. He took Rantaro’s hand and pulled him insistently through the door, and the adventurer sure wasn’t going to fight him on it. There was a brief exchange with the hostess, and they were seated almost immediately at a booth across from one another. Korekiyo didn’t let go of his hand, and Rantaro sighed, leaning against the table. “You’re so good to me.”

“We’ll find the appeal in this place, I assure you,” Korekiyo replied, picking up the menu. Rantaro took a moment to glance around at their surroundings; it was even louder inside, he didn’t realize that he and Korekiyo had to practically shout to hear each other, and there were people everywhere. The lights overhead were constantly changing colors, and the music was playing so loud that Rantaro could have sworn he felt it in his teeth, reverberating up through the soles of his shoes and right up through each and every bone in his body. It didn’t bother him too terribly much, in fact, it was an interesting aesthetic to him, but he noticed the way that Korekiyo’s free hand was twitching on the table, and he could feel the anthropologist’s leg bouncing restlessly against his. Korekiyo spoke again right before Rantaro was about to ask, “I don’t think you’ll eat anything here.”

“You think?” Rantaro picked up his menu, and he started glancing over it. Sure enough, everything that sounded interesting initially had something he wouldn’t eat added to it. “Well, I’ll be damned. That sucks… I think I’ll just try asking for… ah, whatever the hell, I can’t pronounce it, without the sauce.”

“My apologies, dearest, we can always leave now or stop for something on the way home as well,” Korekiyo picked up Rantaro’s hand, kissing the back of it through his mask before letting his cheek rest against it. Rantaro remembered when Korekiyo first found out that Rantaro had some food issues; he wasn’t surprised, not by a long shot, although he was slightly confused. 

“Then why,” he had asked in the moment, “did I watch and repeatedly discourage you from trying that tarantula today?”

“I mean, I gotta at least give it a fair shot, right?”

“You threw up.”

“It was a fair shot, but oh boy, did it miss the target.” It was generally texture more than flavor. Certain foods he couldn’t do for both, along with quite a few different condiments, but he did have a couple foods picked out that he had deemed ‘safe’ over the years, generally things like pizza or chicken strips or ramen. Simple, hard to mess up, easy to order plain if need be. He adhered himself to a policy of trying everything once unless he knew there was something he already didn’t like in it (curse his adventurer’s spirit), but otherwise, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Previous travel partners, his parents included, had berated him for it, but not Korekiyo. Korekiyo understood, he supported him and always took Rantaro’s opinions into consideration when making adventure itineraries or packing snacks, insistent on never letting him go hungry because there was something he wouldn’t eat. 

Still, though, Rantaro hadn’t expected him to have what he would and wouldn’t eat memorized like that. He had ended up being exactly right about it, too, and Rantaro couldn’t help but feel a little bit of a pang in his chest. Of course he did, that’s just the kind of sweet, considerate domesticity Korekiyo somehow always managed to pull with him, unlike anyone else had ever given Rantaro. To him, it felt pure and kind of tender, but it crashed into him like a tidal wave all at once. It wasn’t that big of a gesture, not really, but the charge and the love behind it was special. There was a scramble in his head for the right words, every summation of every feeling he had ever felt for him, a desperate reach into the recesses of his mind to try and express just how much he loved him, but he eventually settled on, “Nah, babe, it’s fine. I’ll just see if they can take it off or cook when we get back. So sweet, though, making that offer for me. Love you.”

He could see the blush creeping up underneath Korekiyo’s mask again. “And I, you, Rantaro.” The waiter ended up coming over shortly after, taking their orders and heading back off into the mess of people and light and sounds of the rest of the restaurant. Korekiyo was still holding Rantaro’s hand, albeit a little bit tighter than he had been beforehand. Rantaro had ordered for the both of them, drinks and all. Korekiyo had started to speak, but whatever he was trying to say wouldn’t come out. He vaguely gestured at what he wanted on the menu, which Rantaro picked up on immediately and translated. The waiter had looked almost bewildered, but if it worked, it worked, and they had better things to worry about. Rantaro gave Korekiyo’s hand a light squeeze.

“Hey, everything still good?” 

“Still fine. I’m alright, I promise, just slightly overwhelmed.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Rantaro could hardly hear himself think right now. “Do you want to step outside for a minute?” Korekiyo shook his head, and immediately after, he changed the topic of conversation. It caught Rantaro off guard, something about a small town on the outskirts of a city they would be visiting soon, and Rantaro just joined right in, not too terribly sure what else to do. He couldn’t be in Korekiyo’s head right now, but if this was helping whatever was going on up there, he was more than happy to. That led them all the way up to dinner being served, the both of them hardly noticing when the waiter came back with their food. As they left, Rantaro looked down at his plate. To his disappointment, there was still the sauce he asked to be excluded on his food, and as he looked back up to get the waiter, they had already disappeared into the fray again. Rantaro huffed, pushing the plate towards Korekiyo. “Damn. Looks like you get extra dinner.”

Korekiyo didn’t move. Normally, he may have laughed at the joke or reprimanded Rantaro for taking the idea of skipping a meal so flippantly, but this time, he didn’t. He stared down at his own food, the fork in his free hand tapping against the table. Rantaro gently squeezed his hand again, and Korekiyo still didn’t look up at him. Had Rantaro not seen this before, he likely would have started to panic. He knew that his partner had a tendency to shut down in loud or overwhelming places, and this could get significantly worse if this wasn’t fixed soon. The first staff member of the restaurant he saw, he called over, asking for their cheque and a couple boxes, before turning back to Korekiyo. 

“Hey, Kiyo, babe, could you look at me?” Slowly, Korekiyo raised those gorgeous golden eyes up from his plate to look at him, staying silent. “We’re getting stuff to leave and then we’ll head out, okay?”

“You didn’t have to do that,” he replied weakly, and Rantaro could hear the tremble in his voice. 

“Of course I didn’t have to, and you don’t ever have to do anything for me, but here we are. This is supposed to be fun, and if we’re not having fun, why sit here and suffer?” Korekiyo paused for a moment, then nodded, murmuring a soft ‘thank you’. Once the cheque got there, Rantaro paid for it in cash, and he let go of Korekiyo’s hand only to put the uneaten food into boxes. In that time, Rantaro saw Korekiyo start shaking, ever so slightly, and started working just a little bit faster. In no time at all, he had both boxes in one hand and his other around his partner’s waist, leading him outside. Korekiyo was tense, but they made it outside and to the car without incident, the anthropologist taking the passenger seat. Normally, he would be the one to drive, but Rantaro knew he wasn’t really in a place for that right now as he got inside as well. He didn’t turn the car on for a few minutes, sitting and listening to the raindrops as he held Korekiyo’s hand tightly across the center console. Other than that and Korekiyo’s breathing as he tried to relax, the car was silent for a short while. “...Do you want me to talk?”

“I think I just need the quiet for a bit, my dear, but thank you for the offer.” Korekiyo sounded exhausted, and Rantaro felt his heart break, just a little. He leaned over, kissing Korekiyo on the cheek before he let his forehead rest on the taller man’s temple. He gently rubbed the back of Korekiyo’s hand with his thumb, and they just sat there in silence until Korekiyo felt alright again. “...I’m sorry for ruining dinner.”

“You didn’t ruin shit, babe, don’t worry about it. I wasn’t gonna eat anyway,” Rantaro murmured, pressing a kiss to Korekiyo’s jaw. “You didn’t do anything wrong, I promise.”

“It may be beneficial, if you allow me, to screen the restaurants on the board for future reference.”

“Probably shoulda let you do that anyway, you do it with all of our trips and stuff… damn. Kinda dumb of me. I’m sorry, too, wanderlust messing with my head and all of that.”

“I understand wholeheartedly, and while I appreciate the apology, it’s hardly necessary,” Korekiyo sighed softly, turning to look at Rantaro. “I believe I saw several fast food restaurants on the way here. How would you feel about ice cream?”

“This is why I love you,” Rantaro chuckled, pulling away from Korekiyo and driving off. Mere minutes later, they were curled up in the backseat together, car off as they ate their ice cream. Rantaro repeatedly offered Korekiyo some of his, and Korekiyo kept refusing; it wasn’t even that Rantaro thought he couldn’t finish his ice cream, it was more that he wanted Korekiyo to eat off his spoon, just for the romance’s sake. After a little bit, he gave up, electing to just drop his head onto Korekiyo’s lap once he was finished. Korekiyo occasionally reached down and ran his fingers through Rantaro’s hair, and Rantaro swore he could have fallen asleep like that. He almost did, in fact, but right as his eyes shut, something hit him, something he couldn’t bring himself to ignore. He tried to act as casually as possible despite the sudden hammering of his heart against his ribcage. “Hey, Kiyo?”

“Hm?” the anthropologist looked down at him, setting his now empty cup aside. He had taken his mask off to eat, something not too terribly common unless they were at home. Rantaro loved it, being able to see each and every little detail of his partner’s absolutely stunning face. He was originally going to be a bit more tactful, but looking at him--

“Why aren’t we married?”

Korekiyo blinked, taking a good, long moment to process the question. “Why aren’t we? ...Well, I suppose it’s because neither of us have proposed yet. We’ve hardly been together for a year, though, so why would we be?”

“I don’t know,” Rantaro sighed, sitting up and turning to him. He took both of Korekiyo’s hands in his and met his eyes. “We’re practically married anyway, right? Our apartment, our car, we have a schedule for who does the shopping when, our bed, our room, I mean, Kiyo, babe, we have a pile of paint swatches on the bathroom counter right now to repaint the apartment. We’ve talked about kids, we know what the plan is for that, and you know me better than literally anyone else… so why don’t we?”

“You make valid points, but there’s more that goes into a marriage than just domesticity and knowing your partner well, Rantaro.”

“Well, yeah, but I wanna be with you for the rest of my life. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else before.”

“Oh? Is this not commonplace for your relationships?”

Rantaro laughed. “Gods, no. I tried, but I noticed you were shutting down tonight almost immediately. I don’t think I’ve ever done that for anyone else, but for you, I feel like I just know you. I’m kinda unobservant, but not with you, somehow.”

“Unobservant?” Korekiyo raised an eyebrow, and a bit of a grin spread across his face. “I don’t believe that for a second, Rantaro. Since when have you been anything but perfectly attentive?”

“A long time, just not with you.” That wasn’t a lie; he hadn’t always been the best partner to the people he had dated in the past, just general distractedness and whatnot, but something about Korekiyo just made him want to be there and present at every single point in time, or at least to be with him. Korekiyo stopped smiling, looking down at their interlocked hands. 

“Ah. I’m special then… That’s quite interesting, I suppose. What of myself leads you to want this?”

“I always have, kinda. You have no idea how long I was pining for you before we got together, and you just know and do stuff that I never would have expected you to in a million years, but… I think what set it off tonight was you knowing what I wouldn’t eat.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Not a lot of people care, but you just kinda knew immediately and you offered to leave on my behalf. It’s so soft, so nice, and I just love that, and I love you, y’know?”

“I understand, yes.” Korekiyo didn’t look up from between the two of them. Instead, Rantaro gently hooked a finger underneath Korekiyo’s chin, raising his head to meet his eyes.

“So, do you want that? I’ll do a proper proposal and everything, I just wanna make sure you’re ready for that step.”

There was a pause. Rantaro felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest, right until Korekiyo nodded. “I think I am. I mean, by your logic, we are already. A formal ceremony would be nice.... Whenever you’re ready, Rantaro, I will marry you.”

Rantaro just sat there for a moment, stunned. Korekiyo furrowed his brow, and he opened his mouth to say something again, but a dumb sort of chuckle from Rantaro beat him to it. “Uh… cool. That’s awesome, I- Holy shit, I love you so much,” and with that, he leaned forward and kissed Korekiyo, his partner sinking right into it and looping his arms around Rantaro’s neck. The rest of the night didn’t matter, neither before nor after that moment, and Rantaro swore he would be riding off that high all week. It was just a verbal agreement, nothing serious yet, it’s not like it was an actual proposal…

But Rantaro finally had an excuse to start carrying around the ring he stashed in their dresser mere days after they met. 


End file.
